Paradise

Popular hilltop bar and restaurant

What we say:

Paradise is a beloved local hangout with inexpensive Bintang, top-shelf spirits and arak cockails alike, and pretty good barbecue fish, served with local tomato sambal.

Paradise is a beloved local hangout with inexpensive Bintang, top-shelf spirits and arak cockails alike, and pretty good barbecue fish, served with local tomato sambal. There's also Western food on the menu if you're dying for some French fries or a simple sandwich. Ojek drivers know where this place is, and will often assume all tourists and Westerners are headed there in lieu of evidence otherwise, especially in the evening. Paradise can also arrange a seafood buffet or a group dinner with some advance notice. It's a great place for post-dive sundowners with a commanding view of the sun slipping below the water, and is likely the finest bar in Flores -- not that there's a ton of competition. If you're looking to connect with locals, guides or fellow travellers, Paradise is a great place to hang out for a while and work yourself into a sufficiently chilled-out island frame of mind. Saturdays especially can go rather late, as the town turns out to celebrate another successfully lived week. If you arrive at around 21:00 on Friday and particularly Saturday, you're early for the party -- perhaps the only place in Flores where this is the case.